A federal jury in Greenville ordered Target to pay a woman $3 million on Thursday for not accepting her $100 bills and wrongly accusing her of using counterfeit cash.

Court documents stated that Rita Cantrell of Greer went to two Target stores in the Greenville area in Feb. 2006, and both times employees accused her of using a counterfeit bill.

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Cantrell tried to buy items at the store and pay with an older series $100 bill.

The bill was real, police said. But a store employee sent out an e-mail to dozens of other retailers and law enforement agencies warning them that Cantrell was a shoplifter who tried to spend bogus cash. The e-mail also included Cantrell's picture.

The U.S. Secret Service questioned Cantrell at her workplace, but later determined the bill was authentic.

"Rita Cantrell found out about that mass e-mail because it was sent to where she works, which is Belk. Federal agents actually interrogated her at the store and her co-workers knew why," Cantrell's attorneys said in a statement.

Cantrell's attorneys said that her embarrassment, humiliation and mental suffering led to a lawsuit against Target Corporation, alleging libel as a result of a defamatory email and negligence because the target store employee wrote and sent the e-mail without substantial proof of wrongdoing.

After a three-day trial, the jury sided in Cantrell's favor, awarding her $100,000 for actual damages and $3 million in punitive damages.

"The Plaintiff is pleased and feels vindicated by the result," Cantrell's attorneys said. "She did not bring her case to create publicity but to obtain just compensation and to clear the taint which had been unfairly attached to her image and her good name."

Target spokeswoman Bethany Zucco said Friday the company will challenge the ruling.

"We are extremely disappointed by the magnitude of the compensatory and punitive damages awarded by the jury in this case," Zucco said in a statement. "We sincerely regret any inconvenience incurred by the plaintiff. However, we do not believe that the $200 in medical expenses submitted as evidence in this case supports a $100,000 compensatory damage award, nor do we believe that punitive damages were appropriate under these circumstances."